So I did some digging on Wikipedia (initially quite aimlessly actually) on the relatively recent comeback of multi-engined diesel locomotives. Actually I didn't realize the popularity of multi-engined, especially twin engined diesel locomotives, back in the days until literally a couple of hours ago. It all makes sense though. When you need big power out of engines in an era where they just can't produce that much, you jam more of them in.
Not a bad looking little thing at all
This locomotive I'm writing about today is quite an oldie and is apparently closely related to a German diesel hydraulic locomotive of the same era. She's called the Class 42 and she has nothing to do with the more popular Class 43 that we all cherish.
This is one of the 2 preserved units. Interestingly they have inboard bearings like our LRC and Amfleet cars
There have been 2 batches of Class 42s, both built by British Railways Swindon Works between 1958 and 1961. They differ by engine. Earlier units had Maybach engines coupled to Mekydro hydraulic transmissions and later units had MAN. All the engine choices pump out around 1 100 horsepower. More information, including some geeky stuff about this locomotive can, of course, be found on her dedicated Wikipedia page. The Class 42 locomotives were given the nickname Warship Class, due to the fact that most locomotives in this were named after Royal Navy vessels.
Oh and when I said closely related to a German locomotive, I meant pretty much manufactured under license. Of course the footprint of the loco would have been shrunken down to fit the British loading gauge.
These are nice locomotives. I'm told they were very unpopular at first because of their German origins (this wasn't that long after the war) so naming them after British warships was a way to make them more 'patriotic' so people would accept them. It worked, apparently and they became extremely popular amongst railfans.
There are a few of the German locomotives still about, some are preserved and some owned by private freight operators.
Last week, we've identified the Janney coupler and briefly looked at its elegant design. This week, let's, again, very briefly, look at the different types of Janney coupler that are widely used today. I will only talk about the head of the coupler, and ignore anything that the general public may need to trespass onto railroad property and get in a unsafe situation in order to have a good look at. As far as coupler heads are concerned, there are 3 types in used today. Type E, F, and H. Types E and F are used on freight, and H used on passenger equipment. Since the withdrawal of passenger service in North America by private railroads, the Type H standard is no longer maintained by the Association of American Railroads, a trade group formed of major freight railroads, but is under the control of the APTA, the American Public Transportation Association. Now let me introduce another term, slack. Slack is an allowed gap between two coupled up couplers. In other words, when most ...
The NPCU or Non-powered Control Units are control cars used by Amtrak that are modified from surplus EMD F40PH locomotives. A control car is a generic term for a non-powered railroad vehicle that can control operation of a train from the end opposite to the position of the locomotive. They can be used with diesel or electric motive power, allowing push-pull operation without the use of an additional locomotive. Control cars first appeared in the USA and France in 1960s. Trains operating with a locomotive at one end and a control car at the other do not require the locomotive to run around to the opposite end of the train when reversing direction. In the United States, most control cars are modified from retired locomotives by removing tractive equipment and adding side baggage doors and have been used on several passenger railroads. The control cars are connected through the consist of the train by standard AAR 27-wire multiple unit jumper cables. The NPCUs at Amtrak are a...
After the post on the shiny rebuilt GE road power, it's only fair to have a look into what Progress Rail has to offer on their side of the table. I'm using the company's recently-changed, formal name of course. For those who are not up-to-date on the current state of North American railroading affairs, Progress Rail is the company (owned by Caterpillar) that purchased EMD a few years ago. The SD90MAC was arguably the biggest gong show in EMD's recent memory. It happened at a time when they were comfortably resting on their laurels, unaware the fateful changes that were about to occur in the locomotive market in the not-so-distant future (they got beaten badly by GE). What was supposed to be one of the most remarkable locomotives whose presence is to grace the mainlines in modern history, turned out to be an utter disaster (I'll redirect further readings to Wikipedia). As a result, today, the number of SD90s still in operation on a Class 1 Railroad is, if not id...
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There are a few of the German locomotives still about, some are preserved and some owned by private freight operators.